Conduct Unbecoming (1975 film)

108 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

Conduct Unbecoming is a 1975 British period legal drama film directed by Michael Anderson and adapted by Robert Enders from Barry England's play of the same name. It features an ensemble cast, starring Michael York, Richard Attenborough, Trevor Howard, Stacy Keach, Christopher Plummer and Susannah York. Set in a British Indian Army barracks in the late 19th-century, the film centers on an impromptu court-martial following the assault of an officer's widow.

Conduct Unbecoming was released by British Lion Films on 5 October 1975, to generally positive reviews. The American National Board of Review ranked the film in its Top Ten Films of 1975.

In 1880, two young British officers arrive to join a regiment in India. Middle-class Second Lieutenant Arthur Drake, whose father previously served in the regiment, is eager to fit in. Second Lieutenant Edward Millington, son of a general, confides to Drake that he intends to fail his 3-month probationary period; he deliberately antagonizes his fellow officers.

They arrive during the commemoration ceremony of the third anniversary of the Battle of Rajapur, where fallen hero Captain John Scarlett is honored annually, with his widow again presented with the Victoria Cross, awarded posthumously for his valor, that she returns to the regiment. Captain Scarlett's bloody and tattered uniform hangs prominently in a glass case as a testament to his brutal death at the hands of tribesmen. Majors Alastair Wimbourne and Lionel Roach viewed Scarlett's savaged and brutally emasculated body.

Lieutenant Richard Fothergill instructs the two newcomers on the rigid rules and traditions of the regiment. He warns the young officers that they should not take advantage of the favors offered by the attractive and respected widow, Marjorie Scarlett. Millington immediately breaks the rules by addressing Mrs. Scarlett, and Fothergill warns him that another such infraction will get him kicked out of the regiment.

While Millington remains aloof, Drake participates in a regimental mess game where officers chase a wooden pig on wheels, pulled by him, catching it and fiercely piercing its anus with their swords while yelling “pig!”

At a dance, Millington gets drunk and tries to seduce Mrs. Scarlett in the garden. She repels him, but moments later runs back into the mess wounded and bloodied in her hindquarters, claiming the culprit was Millington. An informal court martial—a private hearing designed to avoid public scandal for the regiment—is presided over by Captain Stuart Harper. Chosen by Milligan, Drake is ordered to be Millington's defending advocate.

Though pressured by his superior officer to plead Millington guilty and close the case quickly, Drake insists on giving the defendant a fair trial. Drake learns from Mrs. Scarlett's Indian servant that Mrs. Bandanai, widow of an Indian soldier who died with Scarlett, suffered a similar attack with a sword six months prior, long before Millington joined the regiment. When pressed, Mrs. Bandanai says Captain Scarlett assaulted her.

Warning Mrs. Scarlett to keep silent, Wimbourne says, “They’ll take India away from you.” At the hearing, when shown her dress from the night of the assault, with blood and a cut that could have been made with a sword point, Mrs. Scarlett acts out the attack, which mimics the regimental game of officers chasing then stabbing a wooden pig on wheels. She admits it was not Millington who attacked her but will not say who did, saying the regiment are all “cruel men who treat women and pigs alike.”

Wimbourne knows who the culprit is but refuses to identify him. Millington, now proved innocent, is welcomed back by his brother officers and now fits in; Drake, disgusted by the truth he's uncovered, resigns. The Colonel thanks Captain Harper for his conduct in administering the inconclusive proceedings. When asked whether he wishes his resignation accepted, Drake responds that he puts his personal honor above that of the regiment. The Colonel responds that Drake's honor and the regiment’s should be one, accepting the resignation with regret.

The Colonel confronts Wimbourne about shielding the attacker; Wimbourne replies that identifying the culprit would oblige the Colonel to take official action: “The regiment would never have survived the scandal.” Wimbourne assures the Colonel the matter will be handled in the “traditional way, as a matter of honor.”

Wimbourne tells Drake that protecting the culprit was about “comradeship,” not “honor.” After witnessing Scarlett's mutilated and emasculated corpse, the culprit became possessed. Taking on Scarlett’s persona, he donned Scarlett’s bloody and torn coat to attack the unfaithful wives of dead regimental heroes. Hiding Drake in the shadows so he may witness, Wimbourne confronts Major Roach, saying he can protect him no longer and the matter must end. Wimbourne and Drake leave Roach with a loaded pistol, which Roach puts to his head and fires. Major Roach is “honorably” recorded in the regimental archives as “killed in action" at Rajapur.

Barry England's play premiered in 1969 and had a short run on Broadway the following year.^[1]

The film was greenlit by Michael Deeley who had recently become managing director of British Lion Films, and was part financed through a US tax deal. Deeley said there had been a number of screenplays written, including one by Terence Rattigan which Deeley says cost £250,000. He said all of them "failed to crack the adaptation" but there was "a very simple solution, which was to go back to the stage play and strip out as much extraneous dialogue as possible. Robert Enders delivered a perfect screenplay by these means."^[2]

Deeley hired Michael Anderson to direct, in part because he was efficient, and the film was shot at Shepperton Studios over four weeks starting mid November 1974. This meant the filmmakers have five weeks before the studio shut down over Christmas. Deeley says "the picture ran like clockwork".^[3] The veteran Elizabeth Haffenden designed the costumes in her final film production.

Deeley says the film was "well made, at the right price and completely fulfilling British Lion's objective – to make money".^[4]

Film critic John Simon wrote – "Conduct Unbecoming can be viewed with modest pleasure if only for its performances and the cinematography of Bob Huke".^[5]

The American National Board of Review ranked the film in its Top Ten Films of 1975.^{[citation needed]}

• Deeley, Michael (2009). Blade runners, deer hunters and blowing the bloody doors off : my life in cult movies. Pegasus Books. ISBN 9781605980386.

• Conduct Unbecoming at IMDb